Roma striker Tammy Abraham helped rescue his team from an Italian Cup shock as they came from behind to beat second-tier Lecce 3-1 and seal a place in the quarter-finals.
Jose Mourinho's side have already suffered their fair share of humiliating results this season — highlighted by a 6-1 thrashing at the hands of Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt in the Europa Conference League — and found themselves a down again at the Stadio Olimpico on Thursday night.
Lecce scored in the 14th minute thanks to a bullet header from Arturo Calabresi, who came through Roma's youth academy and is the son of actor Paolo Calabresi, a well-known television personality in Italy and also a Roma fan. The goal was initially ruled out for offside but was awarded after a VAR check.
Just as the home crowd began to turn on their team, Abraham rose highest to meet Sergio Oliveira's corner five minutes before the break, flicking the ball into the path of Marash Kumbulla who headed home the leveller.
Roma almost took the lead immediately after the break but Lecce substitute goalkeeper Gabriel — who had come on for the injured Marco Bleve in the first half — did well to fingertip Nicolò Zaniolo’s effort on to the right post.
The home side did go in front eight minutes later when Abraham gathered the ball with his back to goal and fired into the bottom left corner.
Any chance Lecce had of getting back into the match all but evaporated when midfielder Mario Gargiulo was shown two yellow cards in as many minutes.
Roma sealed the victory nine minutes from time. Abraham found Henrikh Mkhitaryan with a delightful long ball and the former Manchester United player did even better to control the ball and flick it on for Eldor Shomurodov to race through and place past Gabriel.
Roma will now face Inter Milan — who Mourinho led to the treble of Serie A, Italian Cup the Champions League in 2010 — for a place in the semi-finals.
The Portuguese has returned to San Siro only twice as coach since leaving Inter, both against AC Milan.
“There's a long way to go, we have a few more games and for me there's no doubt Inter are the strongest team and overall squad of the league and the Coppa Italia,” said Mourinho.
“We therefore got the worst possible draw, but we will go there and try to cause a surprise. We'll see if it's possible.
“I don't know how I'll feel being at San Siro. I have to prepare emotionally, the way I did when Roma hosted Inter. I must try to have no emotions and try to make it a game like any other.
“I returned to San Siro to play against Milan and received insults of every kind. People won't do that this time, but we'll see.
“Obviously, my intention is to try to win the game and Inter fans will back their team and coach, but the respect is always there, because people don't forget.”
The%20specs
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Fixtures and results:
Wed, Aug 29:
- Malaysia bt Hong Kong by 3 wickets
- Oman bt Nepal by 7 wickets
- UAE bt Singapore by 215 runs
Thu, Aug 30: UAE v Nepal; Hong Kong v Singapore; Malaysia v Oman
Sat, Sep 1: UAE v Hong Kong; Oman v Singapore; Malaysia v Nepal
Sun, Sep 2: Hong Kong v Oman; Malaysia v UAE; Nepal v Singapore
Tue, Sep 4: Malaysia v Singapore; UAE v Oman; Nepal v Hong Kong
Thu, Sep 6: Final
TO A LAND UNKNOWN
Director: Mahdi Fleifel
Starring: Mahmoud Bakri, Aram Sabbah, Mohammad Alsurafa
Rating: 4.5/5
Company%20profile
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Three tips from La Perle's performers
1 The kind of water athletes drink is important. Gwilym Hooson, a 28-year-old British performer who is currently recovering from knee surgery, found that out when the company was still in Studio City, training for 12 hours a day. “The physio team was like: ‘Why is everyone getting cramps?’ And then they realised we had to add salt and sugar to the water,” he says.
2 A little chocolate is a good thing. “It’s emergency energy,” says Craig Paul Smith, La Perle’s head coach and former Cirque du Soleil performer, gesturing to an almost-empty open box of mini chocolate bars on his desk backstage.
3 Take chances, says Young, who has worked all over the world, including most recently at Dragone’s show in China. “Every time we go out of our comfort zone, we learn a lot about ourselves,” she says.
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
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